How To Become A Disbursing Officer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a disbursing officer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a disbursing officer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $16.17 an hour? That's $33,641 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 12,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreDisbursing OfficerUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,641

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.3

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.47%

Asian 6.32%

Black or African American 9.07%

Hispanic or Latino 15.70%

Unknown 4.63%

White 63.80%

Gender

female 40.19%

male 59.81%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a disbursing officer

Explore disbursing officer education requirements

Most common disbursing officer degrees

Bachelor's

62.7 %

Associate

18.9 %

Master's

11.6 %

Start to develop specific disbursing officer skills

Skills	Percentages
Financial Management	24.92%
Payroll Services	14.19%
Treasury	11.75%
Internal Controls	5.73%
Financial Aid Funds	5.06%

Complete relevant disbursing officer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New disbursing officers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a disbursing officer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real disbursing officer resumes.

Research disbursing officer duties and responsibilities

Manage high volumes of financial activity in a fast-pace, risk-base combat environment in Afghanistan.
Research and input EFT (electronic funds transfer) information.
Collect loan proceeds and deposit funds into escrow accounts.
Resolve pay/leave problems in coordination with DFAS payroll offices.

Prepare your disbursing officer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your disbursing officer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a disbursing officer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable disbursing officer resume templates

Build a professional disbursing officer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your disbursing officer resume.